Coast Guard leader fired by new DHS officials

Homeland Safety officers with the brand new Trump administration have fired Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan, who in 2022 grew to become the primary lady to guide a U.S. navy department. 

The termination was first reported by Fox Information on Tuesday. 

A senior Homeland Safety Division official mentioned in a press release to Authorities Govt that the firing was because of “management deficiencies, operational failures and an lack of ability to advance the strategic targets of [USCG].” 

The official mentioned Fagan ineffectively deployed USCG belongings to help border safety, skilled recruiting shortfalls and had an “extreme deal with range, fairness and inclusion insurance policies.”

A few of President Donald Trump’s preliminary government actions issued Monday aimed to improve border safety and eradicate DEI applications from federal businesses. As for recruitment, USCG reported in 2024 that, for the primary time since 2017, the navy department met its recruiting goal, bringing on greater than 4,400 energetic obligation members. 

Vice Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday is main USCG in an performing capability. 

The DHS official additionally cited Fagan’s dealing with of Operation Fouled Anchor as a purpose for her elimination. The navy department from 2014 to 2020 examined about 100 sexual assault allegations on the Coast Guard Academy that occurred between the late Nineteen Eighties and 2006 and have been usually mishandled. Nevertheless, USCG didn’t inform Congress in regards to the investigation till a 2023 CNN report uncovered it. 

“The mishandling and coverup of Operation Fouled Anchor has deeply eroded belief within the Coast Guard among the many American public, the U.S. Congress and, most devastatingly, throughout the ranks of those that have sworn to guard and defend this nation in uniform,” the official mentioned. “The failure to adequately deal with the systemic points uncovered by this investigation has underscored a management tradition unwilling to make sure accountability and transparency in defending service members.”

Following the publicization of Operation Fouled Anchor, Fagan ordered a evaluation that prompted 33 actions to enhance USCG’s tradition. A bit of greater than half have been carried out, together with a safe-to-report coverage that protects victims and eyewitnesses who report sexual misconduct from being punished for minor collateral misconduct.  

On the finish of 2024, members of the Home and Senate accused USCG of not complying with their respective investigations into Operation Fouled Anchor. 

The X account for Republicans on the Home Oversight and Authorities Reform Committee, one of many congressional panels investigating USCG, posted that the Trump administration was “proper to fireside Commandant Fagan.”

“Our investigation revealed how USCG hid Operation Fouled Anchor from Congress, failed to handle each historic and chronic sexual misconduct on the USCG Academy and uncared for to assist victims and maintain perpetrators accountable,” the submit mentioned. “Accountability is right here.”

White Home officers, Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who lead the subcommittee investigating Operation Fouled Anchor and Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who lead the panel with jurisdiction over the Coast Guard, didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.